E3 2004: Worms Forts Under Siege - Hands-On

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The PS2 get a serious case of worms.

By Ed Lewis

The worms are back in town with Worms: Forts Under Siege After creating a loyal following on the PC with a series of Worms titles that mixed strategy with a healthy sense of humor, they arrived on the PS2 with Worms 3D with somewhat disappointing results. With a newer effort, developer Team 17 Software are back in the 3D realm and throwing a few new curveballs into the strategy. Where the goal before was pure worm carnage, this time there are strategic buildings that deeply affect the gameplay.

The general game mechanics haven't changed one bit. Worms take turns moving around the arena within a limited amount of time and have the chance to fire off one weapon. After firing the weapon, the worm gets a few seconds to reposition for a more secluded spot or just advance further along. There are other tools that help with movement like ninja ropes or jetpacks, but don't have an effect on the timer.

In all of the previous Worms titles, the goal was simply to demolish the other team. Last worm standing was the winner. With weapons that the worms start out with and others that drop in from the sky in little crates, the worms shoot, detonate, and smash each other, or simply push other worms off of a cliff. The series has been known for its huge variety of weapons and infinite strategic options.

This time around, the worms can now build buildings to change the flow of the game. Each team has a stronghold that is the HQ for each time. If the stronghold falls, the team loses. To bolster the stronghold, worms can build, in descending order of strength, a citadel, a castle, a keep, and a tower. Other buildings can be built that help beyond just making the area bigger. A hospital will keep on cranking out more worms, a refinery makes crates for possible weapons or upgrades, and a science building helps to upgrade the weapons.

Instead of just popping into place, the buildings grow out of the others in a way. The building itself will emerge from the ground and bridges will emerge as well to connect it to nearby buildings and make traveling easier for the worms. Taking the buildings down, however, is another matter.

Explosives can eat away at a building and eventually take it down. Some other methods are much more intense and ridiculous. The oddest one that we saw was the rhino gun. A worm can launch a rhino through the air, have it hit the ground running, and watch as it repeatedly slams itself into the wall or building in front of it. We saw an entire tower come crumbling down after just a few head butts.

With a new multitude of ways to play the game, the possible strategies are getting even larger. The only trick is to make the third dimension work for a series that had a rough transition the first time around. With launching projectile weapons such a large part of the game, this was much easier to pull off in 2D and from the side so that successive shots could be adjusted. Here, the process is much messier and harder to pull off.

With Worms 3D, this took away a lot of the fun of the manic action and quick gameplay and hopefully these new additions will work to fix the problem. We certainly hope so. Check back later for more information about those unruly worms.